The newest attraction at Legoland in Windsor, England, shows a depiction of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle outside Windsor Castle.AP

The owner of popular Lego brand toys is about to be reunited with Legoland theme parks — and wax museum Madame Tussauds.

A group of investors, including the family behind toy giant Lego, has agreed to pay for $7.5 billion for Merlin Entertainments, which operates Legoland theme parks and Madame Tussaudsm known for its Ariana Grande and Meghan Markle wax figurines.

Kirkbi, the investment arm of the family of Kirk Kristiansen, the former head of Lego Group, is joining forces with private equity giant Blackstone and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
Their $7.5 billion going private offer represents a 37 percent premium to the May 22 closing price for Merlin — the world’s second-largest visitor-attraction operator after Disney.

“Simply put: Merlin has struggled as a public company,” ValueAct said at the time. ValueAct griped that Merlin’s shares had fallen 2.7 percent during their six-year run on the London Stock Exchange and predicted a take-private transaction would generate a 30 percent premium.

Merlin’s stock climbed 13.7 percent on Friday to close at $5.70 per share — just below the investment firm’s offer of $5.77.

In addition to 21 Madame Tussauds worldwide — headed by a flagship in Times Square — Merlin owns eight Legolands in locations ranging from California to Malaysia.

The 67 million guests drawn to Merlin’s 130 attractions, which also include Sea Life aquariums in the US and a string of independent theme parks in Europe, spent $2.1 billion last year.

Kirkbi currently owns 30 percent of Merlin acquired from the sale of its Legoland parks to the attraction operator in 2005. That stake will increase to 50 percent on Merlin’s de-listing from the London Stock Exchange, leaving Kirkbi partners Blackstone and CPPIB with the other 50 percent.

“We are committed to ensuring Legoland and the other activities in Merlin reach their full potential, which we believe is best pursued under private ownership, in order to deliver fantastic experiences to visitors of all ages around the world,” Kirkbi CEO Soren Thorup Sorensen said in a statement.

Joe Baratta, Blackstone’s Global Head of Private Equity, added that the investment group is “prepared to commit the substantial resources required to support the long-term objectives of Merlin, which will require significant investment to ensure its long-term success.”

Some of those resources will go toward doubling to 140 the number of shops devoted to selling Lego’s colorful plastic bricks in China.

Merlin, which also has three Madame Tussauds in China, committed itself earlier this year to building Legoland Parks in the country. Its first such park, set for a 2022 opening, is already under construction in Shanghai.